Now streaming on IFFR Unleashed: Rotterdam on screen

Stream the latest IFFR Unleashed collection, featuring nine films that take you beneath the surface of Rotterdam in search of its spirit, people, stories and vibrant filmmaking scene.

The latest thematic collection on our video-on-demand service IFFR Unleashed celebrates Rotterdam in all its diversity. Nine films – shorts, mid-length works and features – spotlight IFFR’s RTM programme, where the city takes centre stage. 

Discover work from our city’s talented filmmaking scene, as well as stories where our home city becomes the central character: from portraits of Feyenoord supporters and an iconic Delfshaven restaurant to profound reflections on gentrification in the city and our connection with Palestinian hunger strikers.

What is RTM?

RTM, IFFR’s programme dedicated to Rotterdam filmmaking, returns in 2026 for its ninth edition since launching in 2018. Each year, around 30 titles in the IFFR programme showcase the city’s creativity, screened during RTM Day on the first Friday of the festival, and year-round with local partners. Since 2023, the RTM programme has been shaped by three guest curators, bringing fresh perspectives from Rotterdam’s film scene. 

More than simply a programme, RTM offers a vital platform for filmmakers in the city. Since 2021, IFFR and the Municipality of Rotterdam have offered the €20,000 RTM Pitch grant to support the production of a short film that has our home city at its heart. Talent agency QISSA joined RTM Pitch last year, strengthening our support for local filmmakers through additional development funds and custom coaching. Three films made with the support of RTM Pitch are featured in the collection. 

The latest call for the seventh edition of RTM Pitch will launch in September.

What is Unleashed?

IFFR Unleashed is IFFR’s curated video-on-demand (VOD) platform – extending the festival’s mission by spotlighting bold and distinctive cinema through thematic online programmes, available on a quarterly basis.

Each edition features a carefully curated line-up, offering audiences a fresh and accessible way to engage with the festival year-round. Past collections on IFFR Unleashed have highlighted celebrated works by filmmakers such as Kelly Reichardt, Bong Joon Ho, Janicza Bravo, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wang Bing and many others.

How does it work?

Each title is available on a pay-per-view basis: €6 for a feature and €2.50 for a short or mid-length film. We offer a special Unleashed multi-ticket (rittenkaart) that grants access to either five feature films or five short films. The total cost of the multi-ticket is €25 for five feature films and €10 for five short films, reducing the price per film to €5 for feature films and €2 for short films. Any unused tickets can be used for future releases or other Unleashed titles.

Check the regional availability of the films below. All are available to stream in the Netherlands and many worldwide, November 26 23.59 CET. Find out more in our FAQ.

Shorts and mid-lengths

The Battle of Empty Stomachs by Diana Al-Halabi (IFFR 2025) – available worldwide (except Israel and Portugal)

A poetic tribute to the resistance of Palestinian hunger strikers and asylum seekers. Winner of the third edition of RTM Pitch.

Berichten uit de Hunkerbunker by Carel van Hees (IFFR 2023) – available in Benelux

During the COVID-19 pandemic, photographer and filmmaker Carel van Hees meets the 106-year-old Gerarda van Nimwegen, his neighbour in the RVS flats in Rotterdam who has lived through many crises in her life. A loving tribute to a remarkable resident of the Hunkerbunker. 

‘t Eethuisje van Delfshaven by Anna Roza Hess & Sam Brinkman (IFFR 2025) – available in the Benelux

Tasty mini-documentary on culinary heritage. Here time has stood still, but for how long? The graduation film of the filmmakers was a hit at IFFR 2025, and was featured in de Volkskrant!

Fantoomwijk by Ravi Sandberg, produced by Rotterdam production house mint film (IFFR 2023) – available worldwide

A lively working-class neighbourhood is forced to make way for luxury homes. Fantoomwijk shows the destructive consequences for its former residents. Winner of the third edition of RTM Pitch. 

So Loud the Sky Can Hear Us by Lavinia Xausa, produced by Rotterdam production house mint film (IFFR 2022) – available worldwide

A group of Feyenoord supporters unfold a hidden world of faith, love, compassion, and vulnerability. Winner of the second edition of RTM Pitch.

Features

Two films by Peter Hoogendoorn

Almost ten years separate the two features by Rotterdam-born, Amsterdam-based, Peter Hoogendoorn, each a semi-auto-biographical take on a moving episode in his life.

Listen to a podcast interview with Peter Hoogendoorn and filmmaker and comedian Shariff Nasr, recorded at IFFR 2025.

Drie dagen vis by Peter Hoogendoorn (IFFR 2025) – available in the Benelux

Father Gerrie and son Dick have three days together. Dick hopes for reconciliation, but he fails to get through to his father. Ten years since Tussen 10 en 12 (IFFR 2015), filmmaker Peter Hoogendoorn returns with an empathetic tragicomedy about a father-son relationship of few words.

Tussen 10 en 12 by Peter Hoogendoorn (IFFR 2015) – available worldwide

Between 10 and 12 on a fateful summer morning, a teenage boy and his girlfriend are driven across Rotterdam to deliver the unthinkable news of his sister’s death – a powerful, darkly comedic, portrait of grief suspended in time.

DEPOT – Reflecting Boijmans by Sonia Herman Dolz (IFFR 2023) – available worldwide

Unconventional portrait of the construction of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, the world’s first museum depot entirely open to visitors. Witness architect Winy Maas and museum director Sjarel Ex realising this dream. 

Malin TV by Gyz La Rivière (IFFR 2023) – available in Benelux

A drily comedic film essay about Chinese hero Malin – known as Henk Sneevliet in the Netherlands. La Rivière is our faithful reporter, bringing us up to speed on Sneevliet, Rotterdam’s first housing crisis, skyscrapers in its sister city Shanghai and the first Chinese restaurants in Katendrecht.